Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  It's free, Larry.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  First of all, if Stephen will abide, we do have direct flights where people come here from Frankfurt once a week, directly into Whitehorse. So we don't actually have to add to the southern tourism point of view. In relation to your other point, a lot of people have suggested that, yes, we actually get a lot of heritage funding up here, and frankly, it's paid off.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  It was two years ago. It was funding specifically set aside for a national trust. If you want to refer to that, talk to the Heritage Canada Foundation.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  That's a million-dollar question. I can't answer it with a finite number, because certainly we would like to represent all of them, but they aren't all members of our organization. Some of them are very tiny and private. Some of them are much larger, like the Dawson City Museum or the MacBride Museum here in Whitehorse.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Yes, is the short answer to that. We have ongoing programs with almost every museum that particularly involve first nations. Their cultural heritage and oral heritage is part of a whole other thing we haven't talked about yet. That aboriginal heritage is very different from the built heritage we like to talk about in the more traditional museum sector.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I'm not sure it's a downfall. We are always looking for funding. We look at the private sector as well. For instance, we sometimes bring on board the Silver Trail Tourism Association, which has an ongoing relationship with Alexco, the mining company operating within our jurisdiction.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  As far as I know, yes. HPI is on the edge. CHPIF is being cancelled for one or two years. There have been significant funding cuts to MAP. Put them all together, and we're suffering quite a bit in the museum business.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  It's news for all of us. Was that Mr. Alexander?

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  He comes up regularly and meets with us in Dawson. He has not mentioned that.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Yes. It gives me something to question him about at our next meeting.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Perhaps I could speak to that. I'm here representing the YHMA, but this is clearly a Dawson issue, because that's where the Top of the World Highway goes. Yes, there is a question of winterizing the booth, and I think there are some technical requirements in terms of water and sewage disposal that need to be addressed to allow those things to work in the wintertime.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  When I think of Parks Canada, I think of Dawson, which is not necessarily wilderness; it's a built heritage, the entire town. We have actually talked about exactly what you're suggesting, between the Klondike Visitors Association and Parks Canada, and their branding, if you will, or their promotion of Dawson and parks in general, particularly in the north, from our point of view.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I would like to point out that as far as fuel prices go, in Dawson today I think it was $1.28. I just left there this morning. The other thing to keep in mind is that prices are low now, but come next May, they'll be in the $1.20 range. I'm guessing; it's really up to the fuel companies as to what they charge.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I would like to speak to Parks Canada. I live in Dawson, and I don't think Dawson would be there if it wasn't for Parks Canada. In the 1960s and 1970s they moved in and basically cleaned the place up. It was pretty much abandoned at that point. Historically, until 1955, Dawson was the capital.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  On the one hand we owe a lot to Parks Canada. On the other hand, we're all sort of mad at them these days because we don't understand their shortcomings. It's a “six of one, half dozen of the other” situation.